How great to be able to cheer on a successful Alissa! There is such a wonderful quality to her skating, and her spins are among the best ever. I've always felt that our country is lucky to have her, no matter how she does internationally. But it would be grand if she could finally realize her potential. With the field today, I don't envision her winning a gold unless there are some huge surprises, but realistically she could be on the podium. Wouldn't that be a magnificent outcome.

2006 Worlds: most people didn't have Meissner even on the podium, let alone winning.

Who knows, really.

I was actually surprised that the judges were willing to let Meissner win. Often, skaters that are relatively new to the senior scene aren't received well. Take Rachael Flatt for example; she may land lots of triples but still end up behind skaters will less triples. If the 2006 Worlds were judged the way competitions are judged today, it is unlikely that Meissner would have won.

Judges didn't really have a choice IMHO. The favorites did pretty badly.

Well, I think if that Worlds were judged by today's standards, the judges would have boosted the PCS of either Cohen, Suguri or both, and held down Meissner's so that either of Cohen or Suguri would have ended up as World Champion. (Meissner might have also lost points for underrotation.) Personally, I am not sure I would be happy with Suguri winning that one, and definitely not with Cohen, but that's what would have happened.

The one upside of that kinda judging: Meissner would have had less pressure on her next year. That World Champion title really set the expectations high for her.

it means nothing IMO. Someone said she fell on all jump attempts when she skated her SP at some show a few weeks ago.

And I think she splatted a bunch at sectionals.

Weirdly enough, I think it shows that Alissa knows how to pull it together and skate better and more precisely when it counts. We've all heard that about past champions like Michelle Kwan (you'd read reports of her doing so-so at practice, then come competition time she fires on all cylinders, or the fact that she often saved her best performances for nationals or worlds).

Would it be more reassuring if Alissa always landed her jumps in and out of competition now? Of course. But the fact that she's keeping her splatting away from major competitions when she needs to tells you she has some power over the splatting.

What would be most reassuring is if Alissa landed all of her jumps all the time. Michelle Kwan did that, almost. She went on tour every year with SOI, did a four triple program, and hit them all almost every night. Michelle's official practices were performances. Even in a "so-so" practice, she rarely fell.

Of course. But she has some power over it to be able to keep upright through the GPF and then the SP and FS of US nationals. That can't be all luck. She must be able to tell herself, OK, this is where I need you to really concentrate and really fight and balance and keep the timing. And then she's actually able to do it. Maybe it takes a great deal of mental exertion. But that's ok, she doesn't need to keep that up every time she gets on the ice. Just twice more at worlds should do it.

I was waiting for someone to post this... it means nothing IMO. Someone said she fell on all jump attempts when she skated her SP at some show a few weeks ago.

Originally Posted by Serious Business

And I think she splatted a bunch at sectionals. Would it be more reassuring if Alissa always landed her jumps in and out of competition now?

Ok, there's something I am missing here. I always figured that either you have the jumps or you don't. If you have trouble with them either in practices or during show skates, that means there are technique issues present that could crop up in competition as well.
It doesn't seem to me that a skater jumps one way during competition and a totally different way during a show skate. I would assume they are using the same technique in both cases. So a failure in one instance would increase the likelihood of failure in another.

Now, I am not saying I am right about this, perhaps there is something about show skates that makes the jumps a lot weaker and less reliable than in competition. But I don't see it. As Mathman said:

Ok, there's something I am missing here. I always figured that either you have the jumps or you don't.

While that concept is basically true, there are other factors. I know in Track/Field, your not always pumped with the adrenaline, energy, or desire to have great starts every run in practice. In Basketball, during games you'll focus a lot more on making baskets rather than during practice. I would assume there is a similar idea in figure skating. When your in a major competition, not only will your adrenalin be pumping to help you out, but you'll attempt to rotate more vertically and concentrate on each, particular element compared to an exhibition, where your focus on performance will take over. In addition, in exhibitions I would assume there is a lack of adrenaline, and you wouldnt try with 200% effort to keep yourself correctly vertical and rotating compared to in Competition.